<cite>Flow</cite> Creator Explains Why He Went Indie

Share

<cite>Flow</cite> Creator Explains Why He Went Indie

In an interview conducted by Gamasutra, Jenova Chen, co-founder of indie developer Thatgamecompany and designer behind the downloadable PlayStation 3 game Flow, explains his reasons for leaving the development team behind the upcoming Nintendo DS version of Will Wright's Spore, and why he decided to start his own company.

"You know, the reason we started this company is because nobody is making this kind of game, and to expand that emotional spectrum of video games... The only way to do it is to just do it yourself."

"We tried to just convince big publishers like EA or other people to make games like Cloud... It's just almost impossible," explains Chen, using as an example the third-person puzzle game that first garnered him some attention.

That's not to say that working on a project like Spore can't be a fulfilling job. "It's like the perfect job for a game designer," says Chen.

But the long development cycle of such large projects proved to be another incentive to go indie, where the possibility of producing games more quickly was tempting. "If I left at this moment, and started creating a new game, I might be able to create a game before Spore even launched."

Next up for Thatgamecompany is Flower, another downloadable PlayStation 3 game in which the player will take on the role and actions of a flower. Although the game was teased at last year's Tokyo Game Show, a release date has yet to be announced.